Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-StandardGov. David Paterson and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson receive a SUNY Cortland Jets shirts this morning during a news conference announcing the football team will hold its 2009 training camp at SUNY Cortland.

Frank Franklin / The Associated Press, 2008New York Jets teammates practice at the Jets training facility in Hempstead, N.Y. in August 2008.

Cortland, NY -- Officials in Cortland hope to hear more than just the sound of crunching helmets this summer when the New York Jets open training camp at SUNY Cortland for the first time.

They also are hoping to hear the sound of cash registers ringing.

Gov. David Paterson predicted today that more than 1,000 NFL fans will visit SUNY Cortland's campus each day for three weeks to watch the Jets practice, get autographs and talk to their football heroes after camp opens July 31, and the fans will pump millions of dollars into the region's economy.

At the Country Inn & Suites motel, just a stone's throw from the SUNY Cortland football field, manager Rakesh Patel said he thinks all 81 rooms could be booked during the Jets' stay. Normally, only 60 to 70 percent of the motel's rooms are booked during most of August, Patel said.

"This year has been tough because of the economy," Patel said. "This is definitely going to give us a boost."

SUNY Cortland President Erik Bitterbaum predicted, "Tens of thousands of fans will come and eat in our restaurants and stay in our hotels and buy our gas."

New York State will give $410,000 in grants to SUNY Cortland to defray the cost associated with hosting the training camp, including installing air conditioning in campus apartments where Jets support staff will stay, Paterson said at a news conference where he and Jets owner Woody Johnson announced the Jets move.

But the Jets camp won't be just about money.

Central New Yorkers will get a chance to see NFL players up close as they compete to make the team. Fans can stand on the sidelines and watch scrimmages, far closer than they'd ever be during an NFL game.

"You're so up close you occasionally put yourself in harm's way," said Matt Higgins, executive vice president of the Jets. "That close."

"Some days there are two practices, some days there's one. They usually last about two hours. You'll be able to come and watch the players up close do their drills, do their practices. Really get a chance to see them," Higgins said.

After practices, Jets players will be available for autograph sessions, he promised.

The players will report to Cortland by July 30, and stay in the college's air-conditioned Glass Tower dormitory, which was built about four years ago. The Jets' support staff will stay in the college's West Campus Apartments.

Higgins said the Jets camp drew 15,000 fans per day last summer when Brett Farve was their quarterback. But Farve retired after the Jets finished the season 9-7.

"I think it will be particularly exciting this year because the Jets have two young quarterbacks competing for the starting position," Paterson said, referring to quarterbacks Kellen Clemens and Erik Ainge.

"We have two now. We could have more," Jets owner Woody Johnson said.

"If you can throw well, just show up here on July 31st," Paterson joked.

Jets running back Thomas Jones, who led the AFC in rushing last year with 1,312 yards, should be the biggest draw at the camp. Jones skipped the Jets' voluntary minicamp earlier this month over a contract dispute. Higgins said he's confident Jones will come to Cortland.

SUNY Cortland junior Scott Hill said the Jets camp could help him and other students pursue their careers. Hill is president of the campus sports management club. Getting an internship to work at the camp might help him realize his dream of working for a professional sports team after he graduates.

Hill, who lives in Pembroke in western New York, said he's been a Buffalo Bills fan his whole life. But now he's thinking of becoming a Jets fan.

"Upstate New York will now become the pre-season capital of pro football -- with the Buffalo Bills training at St. John Fisher in Rochester, the New York Giants training at SUNY Albany and now the New York Jets training right here in Cortland," Paterson said.

Johnson said the Jets moved to Cortland because new head coach Rex Ryan, the son of former Philadelphia Eagles coach Buddy Ryan, wanted the Jets to move their training camp from Florham Park, N.J. to a remote area to promote team building and chemistry.

The team considered Cornell University, Utica College and Marist College in Poughkeepsie before selecting Cortland.

"Everything about Cortland was exactly what we were looking for," Johnson said, noting that the Red Dragons' football stadium opened just seven years ago.

The state grant will also help pay for upgrades to the football field, Bitterbaum said.